Columbine Author Speaks at Longwood

By Brooke Brennan, The Rotunda

Dave Cullen is a renowned journalist and well-known author. His most famous creation, his book Columbine, is a deep-seated portrayal of the murderers, the victims, and the community’s reaction to the Columbine High School shootings that took place on April 20, 1999.

Due to his in-depth and highly intellectual analysis of the school massacre, Cullen is considered a leading authority on the Columbine killers: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. His book claimed nearly six different awards, was noted on two-dozen Best of 2009 lists, including New York Times, LA Times, and Publishers Weekly, and was named Best Education Book of 2009 by the American School Board Journal.

The University of Colorado at Boulder graduate presented thoughts from his book to campus members on March 17. Cullen started his presentation off by prompting the infamous question asked by most onlookers, and those involved with the tragedy, when he stated, “Why did two boys walk into their school one morning and shoot people in the head?”

As he did in his book, Cullen spoke at Longwood to further dismiss the myths that were a driving force for the media’s inaccurate depiction of the massacre. Cullen said that the media blamed Harris and Klebold for the wrong reasons and placed them in stereotypical categories by saying they were bullied, members of the “trench-coat mafia”, angry at jocks and outcasts in the community. In reality, Cullen explained, Harris was a “psychopath,” and Klebold was suicidal and depressed.

Cullen noted that, despite the obvious violence, his book reflects the “hope, love, and redemption” that exist within the community, even ten years after the killings. In the beginning of the ten-year time investment in which he spent writing Columbine, Cullen said that he started with ten different stories from main characters with different points of view.

Throughout his writings and research, Cullen realized that he wanted to give the audience “a complete sense of the whole world of Columbine.” He devoted half of the book to the killers, and the rest to the victims, students, teachers and parents, in order to show each perception.

With such misconstrued beliefs about the truth behind the massacre, the murderers and the Columbine community, Cullen stood shocked when he discovered the level of intelligence about the subject amongst the Longwood audience. More than half of the members who overflowed Wygal Hall raised their hands that night when Cullen asked if anyone had previously read his book.

Almost all the hands went up when he asked if anyone had heard of it.

In result, Cullen began his speech with general overviews of his findings and left most of the night open for questions.

Matthew Prickett, Longwood English professor, has read, studied and taught Cullen’s findings in Columbine to his English 400 class. Prickett is a strong advocate for Cullen’s work and “absolutely” recommends the book to anyone who has not read it yet.

He said his favorite part of the book was the “community aspect.”

Prickett continued, “[Cullen] very much showed that it was a community issue and not specific to just one person, which so many people focused on in the past… and I really appreciated that.”

The biggest facet of the book that people marveled, including Prickett, was how Cullen made Harris and Klebold into real people and not “monsters,” much like the media asserted.

Prickett explained, “It’s easy to say that somebody is a monster, but it’s harder to say ‘Okay-they’re actually human and there are reasons and issues behind what they did’.”

Cullen did just that; he gave the killers emotion and depth in order to give readers a closer understanding of the situation.

Prickett stated that, in the book, Cullen did an “excellent job” displaying the negative side of the media, explaining how the myths occurred, and then disproving those falsities with facts.

As far as the author’s writing style, most students and teachers agreed that it is very engaging.

Jake Milne, professor of sociology, noted that most of his students claimed to be “at the edge of their seats” while reading the book.

Of Cullen’s writing style, Milne said, “It’s very simplistic; it doesn’t get bogged-down in the details. [Cullen] presents it in such a way that any student can imagine themselves actually being one of the students there on April 20, 1999.”

Ashley Tobin, Longwood student majoring in elementary education, studied the book in her sociology class this semester. She said that the author made the book easy to follow, and very interesting, by telling the story through perspectives of those involved in Columbine.

Aside from the massacre itself, she claimed that the writing style and sheer realism of this book gave her “shivers, over and over again.”

“It felt so real and close to home,” Tobin continued.

Prickett, Tobin, and Milne all concurred that Columbine was a success, a brilliant depiction of the actual happenings, and a “must-read.” However, the three wished that Cullen spent more time explaining the entirety of the book during his presentation.

Milne said, “[Cullen] looked very well organized from his slides, but I think we threw him off since we knew so much about the book. He didn’t entirely know how to address the population, and, in that respect, I think some people left unfulfilled.”

Nevertheless, Milne noted that Cullen made up for the presentation’s lack of information during the three hours in which he stayed afterwards to answer questions and sign books.

After being the last one to speak with Cullen at 11:45 p.m., Milne noted, “Any student who felt a bit unfulfilled had all of their questions answered if they waited in line to get their book signed.

Persistent students, such as Amy McGregor, liberal studies major, and Kristin Davis, psychology major, the English and Psychology departments, the psychology honors society Psi Chi, the Student Government Association (SGA), and Lancer Productions made Cullen’s attendance possible by raising awareness and $4,000.

McGregor explained, “It started with Mr. Prickett and his English 400 class as a student initiative. Then, with the support of several departments, it also became an interdisciplinary initiative.”

Additionally, McGregor said that the English department was an essential constituent by covering one-fourth of the $4,000 speaking fee, as well as other accommodations for Cullen.

Overall, Tobin, Milne and Prickett consented to being very appreciative of Cullen for adding Longwood into his College tour. It was an honor and a privilege to have Mr. Cullen come and discuss his book, Columbine, at Longwood last Wednesday night.

Afterwards, Cullen posted on his Facebook page, “My new favorite school: Longwood U. Last night was a highlight of my career.”